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and in other news... Crap On Toast "To Serve Man" Day 358: It's Official! Get Yer Kicks I Have Only One Word for You. Can't Sleep, Taking Tests New Toys No Rest for the Weary Withdrawal Write Off? Right On! other stuff: buy stuff i designed my flickr page forgotten new york frellyheck chinh loobylu jakwon tof reknin 63 days heart and mind obscure store dooce oddy-knocky natruallycurly.com knitty TRIPPYswell RSS Feed www.flickr.com
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Withdrawal
Saturday, May 19, 2007 Today is day three without my camera. I had to send it off to the Canon Service Center in New Jersey to have a little underexposure problem fixed. I feel absolutely lost without it, but at least my back hasn't been hurting from lugging it around. Tonight I've been posting old scanned college photos to flickr, mostly ones I scanned a while ago and then never cleaned up. Man, I look young in those photos. So fresh faced. Baby-like. Teeny tiny. It's weird to think I went off to college seventeen years ago. Which means, of course, my twenty year high school reunion is right around the corner. Insane. I didn't even go to the ten year reunion. I would have gone if any of my friends had, but they all live on the west coast and no one wanted to shell out that much travellin' money to go to a stupid reunion. Can't say I blame them. Jeez, I want my camera back. And I really wish I could fall asleep before 2 AM. Labels: camera, photography posted at 11:19 PM . link to this post .   .
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0 Comments:Indecision Friday, April 13, 2007  I've been trying to figure out what to get with my birthday money. It's not enough to drop on a really good lens , but it's just the right amount to get something fun. I was vacillating between the Lensbaby 3G or the Fujifilm Finepix F31fd . I love my old F10 and it has served me well, but the lens is scratched. I don't use a point and shoot too much anyway, now that Kyle got me the XTi , but it's a good thing to have when I don't feel like lugging the Canon around. On the other hand, I love the look of the Lensbaby. I rented a Lensbaby 2.0 for two weeks and I got some good shots with it, but it's hard to focus. I heard the Lensbaby 3G is easier to handle and also easier on the hands. Focusing the 2.0 gave me major hand cramps. So after much consideration I think I'm going to go with the Lensbaby. Perhaps. I'm sure my Photostream will soon give you a clue as to which way I went.Labels: birthday, camera, lensbaby, photography posted at 3:06 PM . link to this post . .
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0 Comments:Photo Junkie Sunday, December 10, 2006 I might have mentioned this before, but photography is a very expensive addiction, er, I mean hobby. Back in the days of my Minolta X-700, which was lovingly purchased for me used by my mother, I could only get one camera related gadget at a time. First came the camera and strap, which I vividly remember because the clerk at the store held up this hippie-guitar-strap-looking thing in jest, but I actually loved it. One of the first things I did with my new camera (after plugging in the battery charger) was to see if I could use my Jimi Hendrix camera strap, but these newfangled cameras have different strap connectors. Too bad, because that strap is so cool. Anyway, I started out with the camera and basic lens and ye olde camera strap. I also had a semi-hard case, but I don't recall if I got it right away. This was either a Christmas or birthday gift, I don't remember which, but each successive gift-giving occasion produced trip to the camera store. Eventually I amassed a nice little camera kit including a Sigma Zoom 1/4 - 5.6 70-210mm lens, a Cokin filter set including a polarizer, a red filter (for those contrasty black and white photos that I loved) and a macro lens thingie and, most importantly for a vain teenager such as I was, a shutter release cable and a Bogen tripod. I still have all of this equipment (minus the tripod) nestled safely in a beat-up, tan Nikon camera bag I inherited from my Uncle Jimmy. The bag still has his address written in Sharpie, which I then crossed out and replaced with mine, as if anyone who found a bag full of free camera stuff would obligingly send it back. This was my go-to camera until I got my first digicam back in 1999. Jeez, that was like the stone age of digital camera history. I'm amazed I didn't throw that piece of Olympus crap out, considering how shitty the pictures looked, but back then I reveled in the large amount of pictures and I could take with out having to pay for the two things that make SLR photography an expensive habit (that is, after you pay for all that expensive equipment): film and processing. Once I went digital, I never looked back. I haven't used my Minolta in years. I don't even remember the last time I bought film or took it in to be processed. When I got tired of the grainy Oly shots, I graduated to a Sony Cybershot. Then I had a brief, but ill-fated love affair with a Canon Powershot SD400 (which, after two unsatisfactory months, I sold on eBay) and then I got my Fuji F10. I cannot sing the praises of this camera and its offspring enough. Before Kyle got me my new toy I seriously thought about selling the F10 so I could trade up to the F30. It's really that good. If you want a point and shoot that takes amazing low-light pictures, this is the one for you. I am a strong proponent of existing light photography, which is why that Canon SD400 didn't cut it. That thing would shoot blurry if I was standing in the shade on a sunny summer day at noon. But the Fuji is another story. Such a good little camera. It was my main squeeze, until the little Rebel arrived. Kyle got me the Rebel with the kit lens and a 2 GB Compact Flash card to start out. Of course, much more is needed to have a proper camera kit. First off, I needed a bag or at least a semi-hard case. That's where I started my research. I went to B&H more in the last month that I had in the last fifteen years. Camera cases on the whole are a sad, ugly lot. I love bags, I have a zillion of them, but camera bags are just so unappealing. Either they're boxy canvas things like my old Nikon bag (which practically screams "Steal me -- there's an expensive camera hiding inside!!") or black technoid bags that look like glorified computer-nerd briefcases. I didn't like any of them until I saw the Domke bags on the B&H website. They mostly make the canvas, I'm-an-old-style-photojournalist-in-the-time-of-Ghandi bags, but they also have a small bag that resembles a mini messenger bag. And it comes in four colors, tan, navy, black and olive. I got the olive. It looks like a purse. I put pins over the label, in case any muggers know the word "Domke" is English for "Expensive Camera in Here". My only complaint is that the bag is a little small. Once I put in my camera, wallet and tiny makeup bag (full of ever-so important things like a tin of Advil and a giant cocoa butter lip blam) I can't really fit anything else in there. They make a larger bag, which I originally thought was too big, but it might turn out to be just the right size. Maybe I will upgrade to that one for traveling once I get my second lens. Ah! I'm already up to my second lens. It took me several birthdays to get a zoom lens for my Minolta, but only one month to get my new Canon prime lens, the "Nifty Fifty", so-called because it's a 50mm lens that retails for $70 and takes awfully good pictures. It's the cheapest lens Canon makes, but from what I've seen, it's worth it. This is what I got with the change haul I dragged to the Coinstar machine. I also ordered two digital photography books and a less-expensive CF card than the one Kyle got me. It will be my back up card, once we go on vacation again, whenever that may be. The other essentials I've gotten thus far are a uv filter for the kit lens (I'd rather clean fingerprints and dust off a $7 filter than the actual lens glass) and a remote control shutter release. My how times have changed! Now I can sit more than a couple of feet away from the camera to trip the shutter instead of being tethered to it like in the good old days. Now if only I was as young and cute as I was back then. I'd be cranking out sultry self-portraits by the dozens. Instead, I just take lots of pictures of my dog. She's very photogenic, if you hadn't noticed. So this is basically all I need. For now. I'm debating whether I want a Lensbaby. Maybe, maybe not, but certianly not right now. However, my birthday is in April, so you never know. posted at 1:55 AM . link to this post . .
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5 Comments:
ohhhhhhhhhh Angela. We're going to buy a new camera in a month or so, and you need to let me know more of what you thihk about this new one.
By It's a really great camera, if you want an SLR. The Fuji is a great camera if you want something light to carry around to take pictures with. Most of the pictures on my flickr are with the Fuji F10. I think they're up to F31 now or something, but it's a great point and shoot with a little zoom. Great for no-flash pics.
By
I agree with not using the flash whenever possible. When I got my digital camera a couple years back I spent quite some time messing with the different settings so I could use the existing light. Whenever faced with the need for using a flash I messed with the flash settings to try and reduce the extra and added "fake" light appearance. Anyway, my camera is a Canon Powershot, and I've been pretty darn happy with it seeing as I don't take pictures too much anymore, but when I go on a creative binge it delivers well.
By Yes, lensbaby. Lensbaby, yes. I have so much fun with mine. They're especially great in the rain, or at night, or both. I have the lensbaby 2 - I've heard that the lensbaby 3 is a serious step up, but also more expensive. I like the 2 well enough.
By Yes, I was thinking about the Lensbaby 2. Three seems to expensive, One looks too toy-like. Gotta wait until I save up some more change, though. :^)
By Found! Friday, December 08, 2006 Kyle couldn't find his keys this morning. Again. This happens on a biweekly basis. Approximately. Several years ago I designated a wooden bowl by the front door as "the key bowl". When I walk in the door, the first thing I do is drop my keys in it. I have yet to train Kyle to do this properly, since he still occasionally mislays his keys (or wallet or belt or iPod) and I end up slow-walking around the apartment thinking "If I were Kyle, where would I put my keys?" The "where" usually ends up being somewhere above my line of sight, since Kyle is a lot taller than I am, so that's where look first. This time, however, even I (with my super-sharp, eagle-precise vision) could not locate the keys. And since Kyle was out late last night at a bar watching comic book nerds battle it out to be the ultimate Guitar Hero, we weren't absolutely sure he took the keys out of the lock before going to bed. Did someone steal them? Would they then use said keys to enter our apartment and rob us of our nine year old TV and two barely used bikes sporting flat tires? Kyle was ready to call a locksmith when I took another look around the living room. And, lo, there I found the keys. It seems Kyle actually did try to deposit them in the key bowl, but he overshot and the keys fell behind the shelf unit. The mystery of the lost keys had been solved. Solved, but not to my satisfaction. I'd noticed long ago that our key bowl had become "the crap bowl". It was full of all sorts of things: binder clips, keys from my old job, pens, assorted leftover Ikea parts and change. A whole lotta change. We have a spare change problem in our house. Aside from they key bowl there are two other large stashes of change (a Danish cookie tin in the bedroom and two Tupperware containers in the computer room) plus assorted piles of coins in various locations throughout the house. Basically, wherever Kyle took off his pants that day you could find a smattering of quarters, dimes and nickels. There was an especially large amount of coinage on the floor by his side of the bed. There was so much change I would actually vacuum up the pennies with nary a second thought. Kyle forgive me! But I was drowning, drowning in pennies. The key bowl was the last straw. I'm certain his keys bounced out due to the excessive amount of money stuffed in there. Money. Hey, wait, change is MONEY! I'd completely forgotten change could be used to buy things. Things like digital SLR accessories. First I thought I'd pack up the change and bring it to the coin machine at our local grocery store, but I wasn't sure what kind of cut they took, since I have obviously never used a coin exchange machine in the whole course of my life. Then I thought about the pretty green Coinstar machines they have at Pathmark. I looked at the Coinstar website where I discovered I could magically turn my change into an Amazon gift certificate, no fees attached. Amazon sells digital SLR accessories. Hmmm... but Pathmark is a twenty minute walk away. A twenty minute walk with an eight cup Gladware container full of change didn't sound like a fun way to spend the afternoon. But the lure of "free" digital camera accessories won out and I soon found myself doing something completely out of ordinary, for me at least. I took the container full of change and got on a bus. I never take the bus. I don't like paying for transportation that I can walk faster than. It turned out to be a very pleasant ride, with my super-heavy treasure chest of booty nestled on my lap. Twenty minutes later, after coaxing all those loose coins into the maw of the beast, I got a shock. The total topped out at $129.73. And the best part? I still have more change left, half a cookie tin to be exact. Not to mention that box of goodies from Amazon. Kyle should lose his keys more often. posted at 12:10 AM . link to this post . .
(11) comments
11 Comments:
When we moved back to Las Vegas from LA last year, we found around $450 worth of change in our house. I was shocked and awed. We went to Coinstar to find it only took whatever the state sales tax was out of it. I didn't feel like being greedy (not that you're greedy, on the contrary!) so we just took the little receipt to the cashier and got us a quad pile of hundreds. Hiphip!
By What's even stranger is that I was reading your blog about Guitar Hero earlier that day. It was the first time I ever heard about it. Then Kyle comes home and the first thing he tells me is all about Guitar Hero!
By
haha, that's awesome. Guitar Hero is my new baby daddy. I was going to tell you, we got married at the Wee Kirk, too. Did we discuss this? There have been so many coincidences, I'm not sure what we've talked about.
By
So you did all this after giving him the keys to leave.
By After I changed the coins into a gift certificate, I asked Kyle if he wanted anything off his wishlist, but he just told me to go ahead and buy whatever I wanted. DSLR photography is a very expensive hobby! I think he was relieved I didn't charged that stuff on my credit card!
By
Yes, we did discuss the Wee Kirk. Isn't that just the cutest place ever? I still have my plastic bouquet.
By
We should renew vows together, except this time, in Maui.
By
OMG, My daughter was logged in.
By For a second I was like "Who the heck is Princess Queenie King-Prince" then I thought, it must be one of Miss Alli's aliases! ;^)
By and you were sadly correct...heh.
By
Ack! My fella is the king of lost keys -- AND he leaves them in the front door. Boggles the mind.
By Spendy Gift Wednesday, December 06, 2006  Once again, Kyle and I exchanged Christmas gifts way ahead of schedule. The day after Thanksgiving is disgracefully early, even by our lax standards. Our Christmas tree wasn't even up yet, for Pete's sake. Anyway, it usually goes like this: I beg Kyle to tell me what he got, he playfully refuses to divulge any information. Then a couple of weeks before Christmas he breaks down and allows me to open one present. And from that point things slide into utter chaos. I'd be picking bits of wrapping paper out from between the couch cushions for months.Kyle is very good at choosing presents for me. He has a gift, a knack for finding the most awesome things. Over the years he's given me a Shag print, an autographed copy of A Prayer for Owen Meany, several signed books by Edward Gorey, a bunch of vintage record albums illustrated by Jim Flora and The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. I still haven't read the Calvin and Hobbes, a fact he never fails to point out. I keep meaning to, but the books are so heavy! Several weeks ago Kyle started priming the pump. He would casually mention that one of my presents arrived at work, but he wouldn't drop a hint as to what it was. I had no clue. He's so creative at gift giving, it's not really possible to guess. A few times I asked point-blank what he got me, but he just laughed. He said I was going to have to wait till Christmas for once. Wait till Christmas? Why, that's just insane. Then something strange happened. Before I even began to bug him in earnest, Kyle decided to give me my presents. Okay, I kind of guessed present number one. It's a Shag print I told him I liked. It's got the wolfman in it. How cool is that? So, I figured that was my big present and there would be a couple of smaller presents to go along with it. He told me to close my eyes, because the next present wasn't even wrapped. So I held out my hands and shut my eyes and when I opened them I was holding a Canon Digital Rebel XTi. I was shocked. Aside from the fact that a DSLR is a very expensive gadget I wouldn't even think to wish for and never imagined I'd actually own, I didn't feel I deserved such a great gift. I'm not an easy person to live with and the night before he gave me the camera I was in total bitch mode. Kyle went to bed early just to get away from me and, honestly, I couldn't even stand myself. I "slept" on the couch, but what I really did was sit there until four in the morning wondering why I was so fucked up. Then Kyle joined me on the couch and he hugged me and we watched TV and then I stopped feeling so crappy. The next day he gave me my presents. But I think the real gift is the guy I'm married to. Labels: camera, Christmas, gifts, presents posted at 9:45 PM . link to this post . .
(3) comments
3 Comments:
i repeat:
By
You know, my boy is similar. Last night I pouted myself to sleep because I was mad at him for his not wanting to drive all day today to go see a concert in LA that I wanted to go see, just to turn around and drive back so we could both work all day again tomorrow. I went to bed early and when I woke up at like 3, his arm was draped over me and he was smelling my hair kissing the back of my head. He also has the best present giving ability. One year he got me my own stamp and card/envelope thing that you can put in your books. You know, those envelopes in the front of the old library books? The ones they put a card in and stamped it with the date it was due? Yeah, it came in a cute little wooden box and had its own date stamp and for me...that was love.
By
don't believe her. i'm a shitheel most of the time.
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